[ArcanumFox]

Hi All,

I work for a Vauxhall Dealership in the Midlands in the Service Department. After seeing the early models arrive in the show rooms I decided to go out and purchase myself a new Astra K. This was after reviewing a variety of vehicles and receiving quotes from other brands despite working for a main dealer. I shopped around but just fell in love with it really. It's the 1.4 Turbo Petrol Engine (150PS) - SRi Nav model. I didn't want the potential DPF problems from the Diesel model as I'm not doing the mileage to justify it. I've attached a photo for reference (minus plates before PDI).

Official hand over date was 12th November 2015 however I had the opportunity to see it go through the Pre Delivery Inspection (PDI) in the workshop and showroom valet. Currently it has 450 miles on the clock (started on 4 miles back on the 12th due to loading & site movement, I've racked up the rest).

If you have any questions from the Service/Repair side of things feel free to ask as I feel particularly well placed to discuss any concerns directly from Vauxhall. Currently from a Customer Service perspective I have 3 concerns regarding this model of vehicle (Astra K) but they are incredibly minor. No major recalls have been released from Vauxhall regarding this vehicle as of yet (03/12/15). Vauxhall usually announce these internally before customers even hear about them as do most major manufacturers. Compared to other model releases from Vauxhall this one has been incredibly smooth with no 'STOP DELIVERY' recalls as of yet.

It's an absolutely amazing car!

I could go through a huge variety of the features and gush for a long time but I'd rather respond to any questions to begin with.

 

[Rob]

Welcome along, your new car looks and sounds great. I think it's also going to come in really useful having you on board too

 

[Razormatt]

Looks good mate pretty much the same as mine except mines an elite

Wonderful car to drive only thing I wish on the sat nav it allows you to select speed cameras as a poi to be displayed but no way I can see of an audio warning

 

[1900sr]

Good to have you onboard, and thanks for your comment on my thread. The car looks good in black, did you spec any options on it?

 

[ArcanumFox]

Thanks for the welcome

I have a few options on the vehicle but didn't add many. I mulled it over but the SRi NAV for me hit a sweet spot between decent tech as standard & affordability.

- The SRi for example comes with the Driving Assistance Pack One as standard but is an option on all other models (even Elite). This includes Traffic Sign Recognition (it even picks up temporary overhead motorway speed limits), forward collision and emergency brake, following distance and lane departure. Had the first instance of forward collision 2 days ago. Somebody cut me up quite badly and the car detected if I had kept travelling at same speed there was a risk of hitting them so it applied the brakes faster than I had chance to respond and flashed up a warning on the windscreen. It was shocking but also comforting to know this feature was there. I responded in plenty of time but it's those extra seconds that the computer detected that made it much more comfortable.

- I added Front & Rear Parking Sensors to assist with city/town parallel parking. These are factory fitted and operate with the driver display to show a graphic of distance to objects. I didn't go for the extras of visual cameras as I want to keep improving my parking ability over the years without getting too lazy

- The SRi also comes with the Sports Switch (don't think this is available on any other models according to the Retailer guide). This essentially enables faster throttle response and sharper steering and it really is noticeable. If I'm driving my girlfriend or Mum around I turn it off and it's a nice smooth drive. However when it's commute time it's back on and you really notice it when pulling away from an island or on swift lorry overtakes. As the car is lighter than any other Astra I've found myself having to watch the speed limit as it has more power than even I thought it had!

- The SRi Nav comes with the Navi 900 as standard too. 8 inch touch screen and the Driver Info Display is upgraded to colour from monochrome.

- I didn't opt for electric parking brake as I still prefer the physical 'weight' of applying the hand brake. I think it's just a psychological thing more than anything. It feels meaningful pulling the handbrake on but maybe it's just me

- SRi comes with Sports Style Front Seats. They are an upgrade from the standard seats but aren't as good as the optional SRi/Elite AGR-Approved seats. I sat in two showroom models (Sports & AGR) and for me personally the difference was negligible. However for some people with bad backs/specific requirements the AGR seats are certainly better and have more movement options.

The one thing I regret not speccing is the IntelliLux lights. We've had a full blown demonstrator model arrive with every single box ticked and it is a beast. At night the lights on it looks incredible - better than the latest Audi's in my view. There are positives and negatives though. Bulbs are cheap. If the LED's break in the warranty period it's a free repair. Outside of this they can be expensive compared to bulbs. As the Matrix tech is brand new I've never even priced up a repair in our workshop for one of these so could not even provide an estimate. Bulbs are much more predictable. I played it safe but in hindsight I maybe should have taken the risk as they look absolutely amazing